The Verge

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Disney has announced that a new Disney Plus app is now available globally for Sony’s PlayStation 5. Unlike the previous version, which was just a PS4 app running on the newer console, the new software is designed natively for PS5. The key difference for viewers is that Disney Plus now supports 4K HDR playback; the previous app had been limited to 1080p for all this time.That means you can now watch the service’s catalog and recent originals like Andor, Hocus Pocus 2, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in all their Ultra HD glory. You can download the new PS5 Disney Plus app from the media section of the homescreen. Those in Latin America can download a Star Plus app — also now based on native PS5 code.“A key part of our global expansion... Continue reading…

This is a tech demo for a remarkable display panel Continue reading…

Micron plans to start constructing its new hub in 2024. | Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Semiconductor company Micron is pledging $100 billion to build a chip factory near Syracuse, New York, the company announced in a press release on Tuesday. Micron says it's the “largest semiconductor fabrication facility in the history of the United States.”The move comes as Micron looks to take advantage of the funding from the Biden administration’s $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which was passed in August. As part of the legislation, President Joe Biden is allocating $52 billion in funds to encourage chip companies to build fabrication sites in the US and recently signed an executive order to get the money to companies faster.

Google has redesigned its smart home app. | Image: Google Home The redesigned Google Home app fixes the camera view, adds favorites, and lets you use sensors for automations. But there’s still limited support for older Nest cams. Continue reading…

The Xiaomi 12T Pro in blue. | Image: Xiaomi Xiaomi has officially announced its flagship smartphone lineup for the second half of the year — the Xiaomi 12T and 12T Pro. The latter is notable for being the first Xiaomi phone to make use of Samsung’s 200-megapixel HP1 camera sensor, while the non-Pro version “only” has a 108-megapixel camera.In mainland Europe, both phones will be available on October 13th, with the 12T starting at €599 and the 12T Pro starting at €749. Meanwhile, in the UK, both phones will be available on October 20th. The 12T will start at £499, while the 12T Pro will start at £699. Xiaomi is offering early bird pricing on both handsets between October 20th and the 24th, which reduces the starting price of the 12T to £399 and the 12T Pro to £599. Both are... Continue reading…

One of the most exciting aspects of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is its ability to image and gather information about exoplanets. But while JWST will give us tons of information about these celestial bodies, there’s something that it can’t do: take a high-resolution image of an earth-like exoplanet — specifically, an image where we can clearly see evidence of possible life on another world, such as land masses, clouds, and bodies of water.Slava Turyshev of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is working on a solution that would give us a clearer picture of an exoplanet. This method would use a phenomenon called gravitational lensing to capture that kind of an image. Gravitational lensing occurs when the gravity of a massive... Continue reading…

The unlocked version of the M6 is visually similar to the AT&T model. | Image: Netgear Netgear is releasing an unlocked version of its Nighthawk M6 mobile hotspot router designed for use at home or on the go. Like the AT&T version of the M6, this new one supports C-band 5G — but now, it also supports faster 2.5Gbps internet service on supported network plans. It also features a new In-Home Performance Mode that allows it to better serve as a primary home router when needed.The new M6 (MR6150) model can cover 2,000 square feet with Wi-Fi, according to Netgear. That Wi-Fi range boost doesn't work in portable mode, though; it only works if you plug it into power and remove its 5,040mAh battery. It’s still good to have that versatility and perhaps increase the useable life of the battery, though it would shut off in the event... Continue reading…

YouTube is placing its 4K videos behind a YouTube Premium subscription as part of an experiment. | Image: u/Ihatesmokealarms YouTube is running a test that places its 4K videos behind a YouTube Premium subscription. In recent weeks, some users have reported seeing playback of 2160p resolution video restricted with text labeling it as a premium feature. YouTube has since confirmed via Twitter that those seeing the new restrictions were part of an experiment to better understand the feature preferences of Premium and non-Premium viewers.It isn’t clear if YouTube will actually restrict all non-Premium users to 1440p video quality, and the company is direct users to leave feedback on the restrictions in order for the Google subsidy to “make improvements.” Google did not provide further clarification when contacted by The Verge for comment.

This still is not from last night’s episode, which is one reason you can see what is happening. | Image: HBO Things got dark on House of the Dragon last night as characters stole dragons and other characters made super incestuous life choices. And all of it was done under the cover of darkness, leading many viewers wondering if their TVs were busted.But your TV is not busted. Your TV is a victim of the episode’s director, Miguel Sapochnik. The man can presumably see in the dark because this is the second time he’s directed an episode in the Game of Thrones franchise cast in such darkness people questioned their own eyes.Back in 2019, Sapochnik directed “The Long Night,” a harrowing hour of TV where the many characters of Game of Thrones gathered to finally end the Night King’s invasion of Westeros. Zombies were decapitated. Beloved... Continue reading…

The original Horizon Zero Dawn released on the PS4 just five years ago. | Image: Sony Next up on the list of remasters that nobody really asked for, Sony Interactive Entertainment might be working on a remastered version of Horizon Zero Dawn for the PlayStation 5. An unnamed source within Sony cited by MP1ST and VideoGamesChronicle pointed to a remastered version of the open-world PlayStation 4 title.Details on the remaster are scarce at the moment but reportedly include new character models, lighting, and animations. It’s also likely that it will incorporate new accessibility features, quality of life improvements, and compatibility with the DualSense controller, mirroring some of the improvements we saw with the remastered version of The Last of Us, which came out in early September.Here are some graphical... Continue reading…

Blizzard As the servers for Overwatch prime sunset sometime around 12PM ET today, heroes old and new are now looking forward to when we can officially welcome Overwatch 2. Image: Blizzard Depending on where you are in the world, your Overwatch 2 launch time may vary from the 12PM PT / 3PM ET start time. London and Paris will get their game late on October 4th, while Seoul and Sydney will get access early on October 5th. If you’re an Overwatch prime player or purchased an Overwatch 2 Watchpoint Pack, you have the ability to preload Overwatch 2 on your PC right now. Unfortunately, console players will have to wait until 9AM PT on October 4th for that privilege.Developers, Overwatch League pros, and Overwatch prime diehards... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Hulu’s raising its prices on October 10th. First announced in August, the price increase means you’ll have to pay $7.99 / month instead of $6.99 / month (or $79.99 / year) for the ad-supported version of Hulu and $14.99 / month instead of $12.99 / month for the ad-free plan.The prices for Hulu’s bundled plans with ESPN Plus and Disney Plus aren’t changing just yet, but Hulu has a price hike planned for later this year. Once Disney Plus rolls out its ad-supported tier on December 8th, the bundle with ad-free Disney Plus, Hulu with ads, and ESPN Plus will cost $14.99 / month instead of $13.99 / month, while the price for ad-free Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus will stay at $19.99 / month. Disney, Hulu’s parent company, is also rolling... Continue reading…

The Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL have reached the end of their three years of guaranteed software support. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Google has released this month’s Pixel security patch, and as Android Police points out, it’s the last one that the Pixel 4 and 4 XL are scheduled to receive. By no coincidence, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are set to be announced later this week. (When one device’s software support window closes, another one opens.)While the more recent Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and 6A all come with a promised five years of security updates, the Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL launched in 2019 with three years of guaranteed security updates. This isn’t necessarily the very end of the road for the Pixel 4 since Google tends to issue one final security patch for end-of-life devices a bit after the official support window has closed. More than anything, it’s kind of symbolic:... Continue reading…

Photo by Thierry Chesnot / Getty Images At the Loewe fashion show at Paris Fashion Week this weekend, models stalked around an enormous model of an anthurium plant emerging from beneath bleach-white floors. As a whole, the show was largely what one would expect at one of fashion’s most high-profile events attended by industry people, celebrities, and influencers. But tucked between the diaphanous blouses and textured shoes were a few looks that made viewers do a double take: hoodies, T-shirts, and pants with jagged edges and smudgy shadows, like the clothes had just glitched mid-walk.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The Federal Communications Commission is threatening to block calls from voice service providers that have yet to take meaningful action against illegal robocalls.On Monday, the FCC announced that it was beginning the process to remove providers from the agency’s Robocall Mitigation Database for failing to fully implement STIR/SHAKEN anti-robocall protocols into their networks. If the companies fail to meet these requirements over the next two weeks, compliant providers will be forced to block their calls.“Fines alone aren’t enough”“This is a new era. If a provider doesn’t meet its obligations under the law, it now faces expulsion from America’s phone networks. Fines alone aren’t enough,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a... Continue reading…

Get ready to start seeing edited tweets in the wild. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is rolling out the ability to edit tweets to Twitter Blue subscribers in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. According to a tweet from the company, it’ll be coming to subscribers in the US “soon.”Last week, we got to see an example of what edited tweets would look like when the company made one of its own. The tweet will appear as normal, but there will be a pencil icon next to the date, along with text that lets readers know the last time the tweet was edited. Clicking on the icon shows you a page with the edited tweet, as well as a history of the edits. The person who tweeted will have up to 30 minutes to make changes and will only be able to make five edits, according to a Twitter support document.

A photo of a NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft with the AVIRIS instrument installed. | Image: NASA NASA and the US Geological Survey plan to deploy aircraft to spot critical minerals buried across the southwest US. They’ll take to the skies to map the minerals, which are crucial to the Biden administration’s plans to build up American clean energy industries.GEMx is the name of the joint research effort, which will launch with $16 million in funding made possible through the bipartisan infrastructure law, which passed last year. Over the next five years, NASA’s ER-2 and Gulfstream V aircraft will fly over parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico to collect data that could point to where critical mineral resources are most abundant.Both aircraft will carry a powerful instrument, NASA’s Airborne Visible / Infrared Imaging... Continue reading…

Samar Haddad / The Verge Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro have more powerful noise cancellation and better sound quality than the original pair, but the company has also made significant improvements to the charging case. Aside from the new lanyard loop, the case itself now contains a speaker that can emit sounds when you’re trying to track it down using Apple’s Find My app.By default, the case also plays sound effects when you plug it in for charging. Inevitably, some people won’t be a fan of that feature, but thankfully it’s fairly easy to turn off the extra sounds and use the speaker purely for location tracking purposes.How to disable charging sounds

Sony is likely not pleased. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge While it’s thankfully getting much easier to buy a PlayStation 5, the nearly two-year-old console has had enough time with modders to slowly (very slowly) get picked apart. Now, hackers have demonstrated how a recent IPV6 kernel exploit utilizing a Webkit vulnerability can allow users access to a Debug Settings Menu in the PS5’s dashboard. This menu allows a user to poke and prod around settings usually reserved for developers, including a package installer that can install PKG files for PS4 and PS5 games.While this may sound like the trappings of a bustling homebrew scene and fertile ground for pirates, the use cases are still fairly limited at this time. In addition to the usual risks of getting your PSN account banned, voiding your... Continue reading…

Gaggle monitors students’ work on school-owned accounts for potentially “harmful” keywords. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that provides crisis support to LGBTQ-plus youth, will cut ties with student-focused monitoring software company Gaggle after the partnership sparked backlash from activists.The organization began listing Gaggle as a “corporate partner” on its website in May, according to a report from The 74, and took what it’s since confirmed to be a $25,000 donation. Gaggle still has The Trevor Project listed as a resource for LGBTQ students in multiple areas of its website.Gaggle makes and markets software products purporting to review students’ online behavior in school-issued accounts and, using machine learning technology, flag “concerning content” for their districts. Items that its products can monitor, per... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter’s Status feature seemed a bit strange at first. When it first came out that the company was testing a way to attach Status badges to your tweets, Twitter explained it as a way “to provide more context for your followers.”Context is all well and good, but Twitter’s uneditable list of choices didn’t make much sense. Adding a “Traveling” status might have made sense in the original what-you-had-for-lunch conception of Twitter, but no longer. And is there anything more cringe than tweeting your grumpiness with a “Case of the Mondays” badge?Now, it appears Twitter’s statuses are becoming much more... Twitter-y. Jane Manchun Wong, an engineer and a notable internet sleuth, recently found a bunch of new Status options that make a lot... Continue reading…

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket has successfully reached orbit, achieving its objectives and deploying three satellite payloads on board. | Image: Everyday Astronaut Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket successfully reached orbit following its launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday. The launch was announced as a “100% Mission success” while deploying three satellite payloads on board, which according to Firefly, makes it “the first company to launch and reach orbit from US soil in only its second attempt.”Firefly Aerospace is a private spaceflight company that develops launch systems for commercial customers. The first unsuccessful Alpha test flight containing its own payload of teeny satellites exploded midflight back in September 2021. The string of bad luck for Firefly then persisted, with three previous launch attempts for Alpha 2 being aborted in September due to technical... Continue reading…

Jaeden Martell and Donald Sutherland in Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. | Image: Netflix Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is a thriller with an iPhone as the villain and the rare King adaptation that truly captures the entirety of the source material Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In California, DNA collected from sexual assault victims during an investigation can no longer be used for other purposes, including investigating other crimes. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law Friday.The bill was introduced in California after the district attorney’s office discovered that the San Francisco Police Department had used DNA collected from a victim during a sexual assault investigation to tie that victim to a property crime. In a sexual assault case, a victim’s DNA is collected in order to exclude their genes from an investigation, but the district said the police department was adding that information to its general genetic database.The victim whose arrest kicked off the revelations sued the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Supreme Court will take up two cases testing legal protections for apps and websites, according to a newly released list of orders. The first case is Gonzalez v. Google, a dispute over whether sites’ recommendation systems are covered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The second is Twitter v. Taamneh, which covers the standard for finding a site illegally supporting terrorists.The cases will offer the Supreme Court a chance to dramatically reshape the online legal landscape — not only for huge companies like Twitter and Google but also smaller web services that are protected by laws like Section 230. They may soon be joined by a case covering sites’ right to moderate objectionable user posts. Petitioners will argue... Continue reading…

Ikea’s new Dirigera hub is coming soon. | Image: Ikea It looks like Ikea’s new Dirigera smart home hub is coming this November for €59.99 (around $59), twice as much as the existing Trådfri gateway sells for in Europe and a month later than promised.Tech Gaming Report spotted a sales page for the Dirigera hub, which replaces the gateway for Ikea’s smart home ecosystem, on the German Ikea site. We then found pages for the hub on Spanish and Norwegian Ikea websites, too. A note on the Norwegian site that it’s a “new and better replacement for TRÅDFRI gateway. Sales start in November.”When The Verge spoke to Ikea about the new hub earlier this summer, pricing was still TBD, but we knew it would cost more than the Trådfri gateway, which currently sells for €29 (about $29). “It is a little... Continue reading…

Death is a part of life at Return Home, where families grieve and bodies become soil Continue reading…

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever poster | Image: Marvel The latest trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever shows a kingdom in mourning with the passing of King T’Challa (played by the late Chadwick Boseman) and opens with Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) holding the Black Panther’s helmet.It also gives us a closer glimpse at a new underwater nation, called Talokan, led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), a “feather serpent god,” along with a look at Dominique Thorne in Iron Man-style armor that suggests a major role for Ironheart in this flick.

The Pixel 6A comes in three colors: chalk, sage, and charcoal. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Later this week, Google will reveal the full details, including price, specs, and a release date for its Pixel 7 phones and the Pixel Watch. You better believe we’ll have the event covered from every angle. But if you’re looking for a deal on an existing model, Google’s Pixel 6A is $100 off its usual $449 price, beating the lowest price by a fairly wide margin. You can pick up the Pixel 6A in a variety of colors for $349 unlocked at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.There are a few reasons why the Pixel 6A may be the ideal choice for some people — even compared to the newer Pixel 7 phones once they release. Price, for one, is key. Next, it has a smaller 6.1-inch 1080p OLED that’s easier to hold in the hand or more easily slipped into a... Continue reading…

Kim Kardashian asked her followers, “Are you guys into crypto???” | Photo by Gotham/GC IMages Kim Kardashian has paid $1.26 million after being charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with unlawfully promoting a crypto investment scheme on Instagram.The SEC says Kardashian failed to disclose the fact that she was paid $250,000 to promote EthereumMax tokens last June. In a series of posts to her Instagram story, Kardashian asked her followers, “Are you guys into crypto??? This is not financial advice but sharing what my friends just told me about the ethereum max token!” Her followers were then encouraged to head to the EthereumMax website and “join the E-Max community.”Kardashian included a number of hashtags in the posts, including “#ad,” suggesting that the stories were a paid promotion. But the SEC says this... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Sensitive information about students from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) began to appear online on Saturday after a cybercriminal gang posted data obtained in a ransomware attack.The publication of the data was confirmed by LAUSD superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho in a statement released by tweet on Sunday.“Unfortunately, as expected, data was recently released by a criminal organization,” the statement said. “In partnership with law enforcement, our experts are analyzing the full extent of this data release.”The ransomware attack that targeted LAUSD — the second-largest school district in the US — occurred four weeks ago over Labor Day weekend. Although it was not immediately attributed by official sources, many... Continue reading…

Support for new cellular plan activation using Apple’s own SIM was removed on October 1st. | Image: MacRumors Apple SIM technology is no longer available to activate new cellular data plans on iPads. The Apple SIM, first introduced by Apple in 2014, is a programmable SIM card that could be configured with different operator profiles, eliminating the need to buy a physical SIM from the carrier itself. The change was first spotted by MacRumors.Apple quietly made the announcement via its cellular data support page, which says that support for new activations using both the standard Apple SIM and embedded Apple SIM would stop from October 1st, 2022. Apple recommends that anyone affected by the change should contact their carrier for details on how to activate a cellular data plan on their iPad.The Apple SIM always seemed like a temporary solution... Continue reading…

Air taxi startup Wisk Aero unveiled its sixth-generation aircraft, an all-electric four-seater that can fly without a human pilot. The Boeing-backed company said it will seek approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to carry passengers as part of a commercial air taxi service.Wisk, which was formed in 2019 as a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk, the flying taxi company bankrolled by Google co-founder Larry Page that recently shut down, is in a race to become the first so-called advanced air mobility company to get the green light from the FAA for passenger testing. Wisk claims that its sixth-generation aircraft is the first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) candidate for type certification.Under FAA... Continue reading…

Tim Cook at the recent iPhone 14 launch. | Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images While Meta funnels billions into CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pitch for the metaverse, Apple CEO Tim Cook thinks most people couldn’t even define the metaverse, let alone spend long periods of time living their lives inside of it.“I always think it’s important that people understand what something is,” Cook told Dutch publication Bright (via Google Translate). “And I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is.” In other words, despite persistent reports of Apple’s interest in building all manner of AR and VR hardware, Cook isn’t ready to claim that the company is working towards any so-called “metaverse.”Mark Zuckerberg has a different view. Earlier this year, the Meta CEO told his employees that the company is... Continue reading…

Disney’s networks are back for Dish satellite and Sling TV customers. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Dish and Disney have reached a “handshake deal” to immediately bring Disney’s collection of cable networks back to Dish satellite and Sling TV customers. The two companies confirmed the agreement late on Sunday night. “We are pleased to restore our portfolio of networks on a temporary basis while both parties work to finalize a new deal,” Disney said in a statement.Dish and Sling TV subscribers have now regained access to ESPN (and its related networks), along with other channels such as The Disney Channel, FX, National Geographic, local ABC programming in select markets, and more. The blackout lasted two days, and although it included college football on Saturday, the two companies have resolved the situation in time for ESPN’s next... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla delivered a record 343,830 vehicles in the third quarter of 2022, a sign that the Elon Musk-owned company has bounced back from a slower second quarter related to COVID-related factory shutdowns.In a report on the automaker’s site, Tesla says the Model S and X made up 18,672 of its quarterly deliveries, while the Model 3 and Y accounted for 325,158. Tesla made a total of 365,923 cars during the quarter, leaving about 20,000 cars in its inventory.The automaker clarifies that some of these electric vehicles (EVs) were “in transit at the end of the quarter,” adding that they “have been ordered and will be delivered to customers upon arrival at their destination.” Tesla also notes that it had been difficult to “secure vehicle... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Coinbase temporarily stopped transactions for users in the US due to an issue preventing the company from processing withdrawals or deposits involving bank accounts. Problems started around 7AM ET, but the company didn’t resolve the issue until around 12:40PM ET.“We are currently unable to take payments or make withdrawals involving US bank accounts. Our team is aware of this issue and is working on getting everything back to normal as soon as possible,” Coinbase explained on its status page, adding that users could still use a debit card or PayPal account to buy crypto.

A Mobileye self-driving vehicle. | Image: Mobileye, an Intel company Intel’s self-driving technology firm Mobileye has filed for an initial public offering (IPO), according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (via CNBC). The Israel-based company, which Intel acquired for $15.3 billion in 2017, specializes in making the chips and software that powers autonomous vehicles.According to Bloomberg, Intel initially expected the IPO to value Mobileye at $50 billion, but later lowered its expectations to around $30 billion. Mobileye’s SEC filing indicates steady revenue growth over the past few years, jumping from $879 million in 2019 to $967 million in 2020, and topping out at $1.4 billion in 2021. The filing doesn’t provide any information on how much a share could cost.Founded in 1999 by... Continue reading…